Thursday, May 15, 2014

By now it should be very, very clear that I enjoy a good spa night, on a very regular basis. The above products are some that I consistently reach for, yielding results, relaxation, and dare I say, really, lovely skin.

Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm (available here)
Rule number one of spa night (or any night really) is that a good pamper starts with a good cleanse. And by that I mean a double cleanse. The first to get rid of my makeup, the second to get rid of any dirt, grime, nastiness that remains from the day. I really love this cleanser, which is very evident because I'm already onto my second container. It's incredibly gentle, yet incredibly effective. I'd recommend it a million times over to anyone who asked.

Pixi Glow Tonic (available here)
I am obsessed with this product. I've been using it twice a day for the better part of two months to exfoliate after I cleanse, and I can honestly say, I don't know how I went without it. I can say with 100% certainty that I will keep it in my rotation for as long as they continue to produce it. Seriously, the ladies at Pixi are genius. And they know how to make a seriously effective product. It has simple ingredients, but reallly has made a visible improvement to my skin's appearance. The days of clear, glowing skin, with even tone, are here to stay, and I owe it all to this product. Magic, pure and simple.

Glam Glow Skin Clearing Supermud (available here)
The best way to describe my feelings about this product is ambivalence. On the one hand, this mud mask does seem to help clear my skin if thing are looking a little spotty. But, I say that with a bit of trepidation, because I have never used a similar mask, so I have no basis for comparison. This really wouldn't be an issue, given that I do feel the mask is effective, but my biggest bone to pick is that I feel cheated on the amount of product received. At $69 a pop, I would assume that the weight of the tub comes from the product itself, but the packaging is bulky and deceptively cheats you. I can't say for sure if I will be coming back for more.

Glam Glow Hydramud ( available here)
Unlike its skin clearing counterpart, I am head over heels in love with this product. You get more product for your money and a little goes a very long way. And the scent? It's refreshing but not synthetic and if you leave it on overnight you wake up with the most luxuriously soft skin. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.Darphin Organic Chamomile Aromatic Oil (available here)
When it isn't a mask kind of evening, I've been using this as my nightly moisturizer. It soothes any redness that I might have in my skin, but also absorbs well. No greasiness to be found. Not to mention, it has a very gentle and soothing scent which helps me de-stress and lulls me to sleep.

California Baby Skin Protectant Cream (available here)
This body moisturizer is new to my collection, but I am already obsessed. It is super duper effective, smells like lavender and calendula, which makes it super-duper spa quality, but has none of the nasty ingredients hidden in mainstream bodycare products.

Laura Mercier Fresh Fig Body Butter (available here)
I love figs. It's not a secret. So this purchase is probably expected, but it certainly didn't meet my high expectations.. It's nice and feels luxurious, but very heavily scented, so I often feel I need to take breaks from wearing it. Sometimes too much perfume can be a bad thing. I'll probably use up this tube, but the chances of me going back for seconds are pretty slim.